Understanding Violent People

Most of us have witnessed or had personal dealings with violent people. Why do they act as they do? How have British and American commentators during the past two centuries understood violent behaviour? The media incites anxieties about personal vulnerability; widespread innumeracy leads many people to misread crime-statistics; and an expectation of greater civility makes its breach so much more frightening. What can we do to reduce levels of violence in our society?

Professor Bourke is a historian and academic. She is currently Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London. She is also Director of the Birkbeck Trauma Project and in 2014, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.